Note: Javascript is disabled or is not supported by your browser. For this reason, some items on this page will be unavailable. For more information about this message, please visit this page:
About CDC.gov

OBJECTIVES: This report presents 2004 national estimates and selected trend data on the use of nonfederal short-stay hospitals in the United States. Estimates are provided by selected patient and hospital characteristics, diagnoses, and surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed. Estimates of diagnoses and procedures are presented according to International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes.

METHODS: The estimates are based on data collected through the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS). The survey has been conducted annually since 1965. In 2004, data were collected for approximately 371,000 discharges. Of the 476 eligible nonfederal short-stay hospitals in the sample, 439 (92 percent) responded to the survey.

RESULTS: An estimated 34.9 million inpatients were discharged from nonfederal short-stay hospitals in 2004. They used 167.9 million days of care and had an average length of stay of 4.8 days. Hospital use by age ranged from 4.3 million days of care for patients 5-14 years of age to 31.8 million days of care for 75-84 year olds. Almost a third of patients 85 years and over were discharged from hospitals to long-term care institutions. Diseases of the circulatory system was the leading diagnostic category for males. Childbirth was the leading category for females, followed by circulatory diseases. The proportion of HIV discharges who were 40 years of age and over increased from 40 percent in 1995 to 67 percent in 2004. The rate of cardiac catheterizations was higher for males than for females and higher for patients 65-74 and 75-84 years of age than for older or younger groups. The average length of stay for both vaginal and cesarean deliveries decreased from 1980 through 1995 but stays for vaginal deliveries increased 24 percent during the period from 1995 to 2004.

This document provides information for users of the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) Public Use Data File for 2009. Conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), NHDS is a principal source of information on inpatien...

"Objectives: This report presents national estimates of hospital inpatient care in the United States during 2007 and selected trend data. Numbers and rates of discharges, diagnoses, and procedures are shown by age and sex. Average lengths of stay are...

"The Injury in the United States: 2007 Chartbook was prepared in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Office of Analysis and Epidemiology (OAE) by Gwendolyn Bergen, Li-Hui Chen, and Marga...